Darius the Great Makers of History pdf

Chapter Page
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
Darius the Great, by Jacob Abbott
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Title: Darius the Great Makers of History
Author: Jacob Abbott
Darius the Great, by Jacob Abbott 1
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Makers of History
Darius the Great
BY
JACOB ABBOTT
WITH ENGRAVINGS

NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1904
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.
Copyright, 1878, by JACOB ABBOTT.
[Illustration: DARIUS CROSSING THE BOSPORUS.]
PREFACE.
In describing the character and the action of the personages whose histories form the subjects of this series,
the writer makes no attempt to darken the colors in which he depicts their deeds of violence and wrong, or to
increase, by indignant denunciations, the obloquy which heroes and conquerors have so often brought upon
themselves, in the estimation of mankind, by their ambition, their tyranny, or their desperate and reckless
crimes. In fact, it seems desirable to diminish, rather than to increase, the spirit of censoriousness which often
leads men so harshly to condemn the errors and sins of others, committed in circumstances of temptation to
which they themselves were never exposed. Besides, to denounce or vituperate guilt, in a narrative of the
transactions in which it was displayed, has little influence in awakening a healthy sensitiveness in the
conscience of the reader. We observe, accordingly, that in the narratives of the sacred Scriptures, such
denunciations are seldom found. The story of Absalom's undutifulness and rebellion, of David's adultery and
murder, of Herod's tyranny, and all other narratives of crime, are related in a calm, simple, impartial, and
forbearing spirit, which leads us to condemn the sins, but not to feel a pharisaical resentment and wrath
against the sinner.
Darius the Great, by Jacob Abbott 2
This example, so obviously proper and right, the writer of this series has made it his endeavor in all respects to
follow.
CONTENTS.
Darius the Great, by Jacob Abbott 3
Chapter Page
I. CAMBYSES 13
II. THE END OF CAMBYSES 38

III. SMERDIS THE MAGIAN 59
IV. THE ACCESSION OF DARIUS 82
V. THE PROVINCES 99
VI. THE RECONNOITERING OF GREECE 123
VII. THE REVOLT OF BABYLON 144
VIII. THE INVASION OF SCYTHIA 167
IX. THE RETREAT FROM SCYTHIA 189
X. THE STORY OF HISTIÆUS 210
XI. THE INVASION OF GREECE 233
XII. THE DEATH OF DARIUS 264
ENGRAVINGS.
Page
MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
DARIUS CROSSING THE BOSPORUS Frontispiece.
THE ARMY OF CAMBYSES OVERWHELMED IN THE DESERT 35
PHÆDYMA FEELING FOR SMERDIS'S EARS 69
THE INDIAN GOLD HUNTERS 121
THE BABYLONIANS DERIDING DARIUS FROM THE WALL 156
MAP OF GREECE 232
THE INVASION OF GREECE 256
[Illustration: MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.]
DARIUS THE GREAT
Chapter Page 4
CHAPTER I.
CAMBYSES.
B.C. 530-524
Cyrus the Great His extended conquests Cambyses and Smerdis Hystaspes and Darius Dream of
Cyrus His anxiety and fears Accession of Cambyses War with Egypt Origin of the war with
Egypt Ophthalmia The Egyptian physician His plan of revenge Demand of Cyrus Stratagem of the
King of Egypt Resentment of Cassandane Threats of Cambyses Future conquests Temperament and

character of Cambyses Impetuosity of Cambyses Preparations for the Egyptian war Desertion of
Phanes His narrow escape Information given by Phanes Treaty with the Arabian king Plan for
providing water Account of Herodotus A great battle Defeat of the Egyptians Inhuman conduct of
Cambyses His treatment of Psammenitus The train of captive maidens The young men Scenes of
distress and suffering Composure of Psammenitus Feelings of the father His explanation of
them Cambyses relents His treatment of the body of Amasis Cambyses's desecrations The sacred bull
Apis Cambyses stabs the sacred bull His mad expeditions The sand storm Cambyses a
wine-bibber Brutal act of Cambyses He is deemed insane.
About five or six hundred years before Christ, almost the whole of the interior of Asia was united in one vast
empire. The founder of this empire was Cyrus the Great. He was originally a Persian; and the whole empire is
often called the Persian monarchy, taking its name from its founder's native land.
Cyrus was not contented with having annexed to his dominion all the civilized states of Asia. In the latter part
of his life, he conceived the idea that there might possibly be some additional glory and power to be acquired
in subduing certain half-savage regions in the north, beyond the Araxes. He accordingly raised an army, and
set off on an expedition for this purpose, against a country which was governed by a barbarian queen named
Tomyris. He met with a variety of adventures on this expedition, all of which are fully detailed in our history
of Cyrus. There is, however, only one occurrence that it is necessary to allude to particularly here. That one
relates to a remarkable dream which he had one night, just after he had crossed the river.
To explain properly the nature of this dream, it is necessary first to state that Cyrus had two sons. Their names
were Cambyses and Smerdis. He had left them in Persia when he set out on his expedition across the Araxes.
There was also a young man, then about twenty years of age, in one of his capitals, named Darius. He was the
son of one of the nobles of Cyrus's court. His father's name was Hystaspes. Hystaspes, besides being a noble
of the court, was also, as almost all nobles were in those days, an officer of the army. He accompanied Cyrus
in his march into the territories of the barbarian queen, and was with him there, in camp, at the time when this
narrative commences.
Cyrus, it seems, felt some misgivings in respect to the result of his enterprise; and, in order to insure the
tranquillity of his empire during his absence, and the secure transmission of his power to his rightful successor
in case he should never return, he established his son Cambyses as regent of his realms before he crossed the
Araxes, and delivered the government of the empire, with great formality, into his hands. This took place
upon the frontier, just before the army passed the river. The mind of a father, under such circumstances, would

naturally be occupied, in some degree, with thoughts relating to the arrangements which his son would make,
and to the difficulties he would be likely to encounter in managing the momentous concerns which had been
committed to his charge. The mind of Cyrus was undoubtedly so occupied, and this, probably, was the origin
of the remarkable dream.
His dream was, that Darius appeared to him in a vision, with vast wings growing from his shoulders. Darius
stood, in the vision, on the confines of Europe and Asia, and his wings, expanded either way, overshadowed
the whole known world. When Cyrus awoke and reflected on this ominous dream, it seemed to him to portend
CHAPTER I. 5
some great danger to the future security of his empire. It appeared to denote that Darius was one day to bear
sway over all the world. Perhaps he might be even then forming ambitious and treasonable designs. Cyrus
immediately sent for Hystaspes, the father of Darius; when he came to his tent, he commanded him to go back
to Persia, and keep a strict watch over the conduct of his son until he himself should return. Hystaspes
received this commission, and departed to execute it; and Cyrus, somewhat relieved, perhaps, of his anxiety
by this measure of precaution, went on with his army toward his place of destination.
Cyrus never returned. He was killed in battle; and it would seem that, though the import of his dream was
ultimately fulfilled, Darius was not, at that time, meditating any schemes of obtaining possession of the
throne, for he made no attempt to interfere with the regular transmission of the imperial power from Cyrus to
Cambyses his son. At any rate, it was so transmitted. The tidings of Cyrus's death came to the capital, and
Cambyses, his son, reigned in his stead.
The great event of the reign of Cambyses was a war with Egypt, which originated in the following very
singular manner:
It has been found, in all ages of the world, that there is some peculiar quality of the soil, or climate, or
atmosphere of Egypt which tends to produce an inflammation of the eyes. The inhabitants themselves have at
all times been very subject to this disease, and foreign armies marching into the country are always very
seriously affected by it. Thousands of soldiers in such armies are sometimes disabled from this cause, and
many are made incurably blind. Now a country which produces a disease in its worst form and degree, will
produce also, generally, the best physicians for that disease. At any rate, this was supposed to be the case in
ancient times; and accordingly, when any powerful potentate in those days was afflicted himself with
ophthalmia, or had such a case in his family, Egypt was the country to send to for a physician.
Now it happened that Cyrus himself, at one time in the course of his life, was attacked with this disease, and

he dispatched an embassador to Amasis, who was then king of Egypt, asking him to send him a physician.
Amasis, who, like all the other absolute sovereigns of those days, regarded his subjects as slaves that were in
all respects entirely at his disposal, selected a physician of distinction from among the attendants about his
court, and ordered him to repair to Persia. The physician was extremely reluctant to go. He had a wife and
family, from whom he was very unwilling to be separated; but the orders were imperative, and he must obey.
He set out on the journey, therefore, but he secretly resolved to devise some mode of revenging himself on the
king for the cruelty of sending him.
He was well received by Cyrus, and, either by his skill as a physician, or from other causes, he acquired great
influence at the Persian court. At last he contrived a mode of revenging himself on the Egyptian king for
having exiled him from his native land. The king had a daughter, who was a lady of great beauty. Her father
was very strongly attached to her. The physician recommended to Cyrus to send to Amasis and demand this
daughter in marriage. As, however, Cyrus was already married, the Egyptian princess would, if she came, be
his concubine rather than his wife, or, if considered a wife, it could only be a secondary and subordinate place
that she could occupy. The physician knew that, under these circumstances, the King of Egypt would be
extremely unwilling to send her to Cyrus, while he would yet scarcely dare to refuse; and the hope of plunging
him into extreme embarrassment and distress, by means of such a demand from so powerful a sovereign, was
the motive which led the physician to recommend the measure.
Cyrus was pleased with the proposal, and sent, accordingly, to make the demand. The king, as the physician
had anticipated, could not endure to part with his daughter in such a way, nor did he, on the other hand, dare
to incur the displeasure of so powerful a monarch by a direct and open refusal. He finally resolved upon
escaping from the difficulty by a stratagem.
There was a young and beautiful captive princess in his court named Nitetis. Her father, whose name was
Apries, had been formerly the King of Egypt, but he had been dethroned and killed by Amasis. Since the
CHAPTER I. 6
downfall of her family, Nitetis had been a captive; but, as she was very beautiful and very accomplished,
Amasis conceived the design of sending her to Cyrus, under the pretense that she was the daughter whom
Cyrus had demanded. He accordingly brought her forth, provided her with the most costly and splendid
dresses, loaded her with presents, ordered a large retinue to attend her, and sent her forth to Persia.
Cyrus was at first very much pleased with his new bride. Nitetis became, in fact, his principal favorite;
though, of course, his other wife, whose name was Cassandane, and her children, Cambyses and Smerdis,

were jealous of her, and hated her. One day, a Persian lady was visiting at the court, and as she was standing
near Cassandane, and saw her two sons, who were then tall and handsome young men, she expressed her
admiration of them, and said to Cassandane, "How proud and happy you must be!" "No," said Cassandane;
"on the contrary, I am very miserable; for, though I am the mother of these children, the king neglects and
despises me. All his kindness is bestowed on this Egyptian woman." Cambyses, who heard this conversation,
sympathized deeply with Cassandane in her resentment. "Mother," said he, "be patient, and I will avenge you.
As soon as I am king, I will go to Egypt and turn the whole country upside down."
In fact, the tendency which there was in the mind of Cambyses to look upon Egypt as the first field of war and
conquest for him, so soon as he should succeed to the throne, was encouraged by the influence of his father;
for Cyrus, although he was much captivated by the charms of the lady whom the King of Egypt had sent him,
was greatly incensed against the king for having practiced upon him such a deception. Besides, all the
important countries in Asia were already included within the Persian dominions. It was plain that if any future
progress were to be made in extending the empire, the regions of Europe and Africa must be the theatre of it.
Egypt seemed the most accessible and vulnerable point beyond the confines of Asia; and thus, though Cyrus
himself, being advanced somewhat in years, and interested, moreover, in other projects, was not prepared to
undertake an enterprise into Africa himself, he was very willing that such plans should be cherished by his
son.
Cambyses was an ardent, impetuous, and self-willed boy, such as the sons of rich and powerful men are very
apt to become. They imbibe, by a sort of sympathy, the ambitious and aspiring spirit of their fathers; and as all
their childish caprices and passions are generally indulged, they never learn to submit to control. They become
vain, self-conceited, reckless, and cruel. The conqueror who founds an empire, although even his character
generally deteriorates very seriously toward the close of his career, still usually knows something of
moderation and generosity. His son, however, who inherits his father's power, seldom inherits the virtues by
which the power was acquired. These truths, which we see continually exemplified all around us, on a small
scale, in the families of the wealthy and the powerful, were illustrated most conspicuously, in the view of all
mankind, in the case of Cyrus and Cambyses. The father was prudent, cautious, wise, and often generous and
forbearing. The son grew up headstrong, impetuous, uncontrolled, and uncontrollable. He had the most lofty
ideas of his own greatness and power, and he felt a supreme contempt for the rights, and indifference to the
happiness of all the world besides. His history gives us an illustration of the worst which the principle of
hereditary sovereignty can do, as the best is exemplified in the case of Alfred of England.

Cambyses, immediately after his father's death, began to make arrangements for the Egyptian invasion. The
first thing to be determined was the mode of transporting his armies thither. Egypt is a long and narrow valley,
with the rocks and deserts of Arabia on one side, and those of Sahara on the other. There is no convenient
mode of access to it except by sea, and Cambyses had no naval force sufficient for a maritime expedition.
While he was revolving the subject in his mind, there arrived in his capital of Susa, where he was then
residing, a deserter from the army of Amasis in Egypt. The name of this deserter was Phanes. He was a Greek,
having been the commander of a body of Greek troops who were employed by Amasis as auxiliaries in his
army. He had had a quarrel with Amasis, and had fled to Persia, intending to join Cambyses in the expedition
which he was contemplating, in order to revenge himself on the Egyptian king. Phanes said, in telling his
story, that he had had a very narrow escape from Egypt; for, as soon as Amasis had heard that he had fled, he
dispatched one of his swiftest vessels, a galley of three banks of oars, in hot pursuit of the fugitive. The galley
CHAPTER I. 7
overtook the vessel in which Phanes had taken passage just as it was landing in Asia Minor. The Egyptian
officers seized it and made Phanes prisoner. They immediately began to make their preparations for the return
voyage, putting Phanes, in the mean time, under the charge of guards, who were instructed to keep him very
safely. Phanes, however, cultivated a good understanding with his guards, and presently invited them to drink
wine with him. In the end, he got them intoxicated, and while they were in that state he made his escape from
them, and then, traveling with great secrecy and caution until he was beyond their reach, he succeeded in
making his way to Cambyses in Susa.
Phanes gave Cambyses a great deal of information in respect to the geography of Egypt, the proper points of
attack, the character and resources of the king, and communicated, likewise, a great many other particulars
which it was very important that Cambyses should know. He recommended that Cambyses should proceed to
Egypt by land, through Arabia; and that, in order to secure a safe passage, he should send first to the King of
the Arabs, by a formal embassy, asking permission to cross his territories with an army, and engaging the
Arabians to aid him, if possible, in the transit. Cambyses did this. The Arabs were very willing to join in any
projected hostilities against the Egyptians; they offered Cambyses a free passage, and agreed to aid his army
on their march. To the faithful fulfillment of these stipulations the Arab chief bound himself by a treaty,
executed with the most solemn forms and ceremonies.
The great difficulty to be encountered in traversing the deserts which Cambyses would have to cross on his
way to Egypt was the want of water. To provide for this necessity, the king of the Arabs sent a vast number of

camels into the desert, laden with great sacks or bags full of water. These camels were sent forward just
before the army of Cambyses came on, and they deposited their supplies along the route at the points where
they would be most needed. Herodotus, the Greek traveler, who made a journey into Egypt not a great many
years after these transactions, and who wrote subsequently a full description of what he saw and heard there,
gives an account of another method by which the Arab king was said to have conveyed water into the desert,
and that was by a canal or pipe, made of the skins of oxen, which he laid along the ground, from a certain
river of his dominions, to a distance of twelve days' journey over the sands! This story Herodotus says he did
not believe, though elsewhere in the course of his history he gravely relates, as true history, a thousand tales
infinitely more improbable than the idea of a leathern pipe or hose like this to serve for a conduit of water.
By some means or other, at all events, the Arab chief provided supplies of water in the desert for Cambyses's
army, and the troops made the passage safely. They arrived, at length, on the frontiers of Egypt.[A] Here they
found that Amasis, the king, was dead, and Psammenitus, his son, had succeeded him. Psammenitus came
forward to meet the invaders. A great battle was fought. The Egyptians were routed. Psammenitus fled up the
Nile to the city of Memphis, taking with him such broken remnants of his army as he could get together after
the battle, and feeling extremely incensed and exasperated against the invader. In fact, Cambyses had now no
excuse or pretext whatever for waging such a war against Egypt. The monarch who had deceived his father
was dead, and there had never been any cause of complaint against his son or against the Egyptian people.
Psammenitus, therefore, regarded the invasion of Egypt by Cambyses as a wanton and wholly unjustifiable
aggression, and he determined, in his own mind, that such invaders deserved no mercy, and that he would
show them none. Soon after this, a galley on the river, belonging to Cambyses, containing a crew of two
hundred men, fell into his hands. The Egyptians, in their rage, tore these Persians all to pieces. This
exasperated Cambyses in his turn, and the war went on, attended by the most atrocious cruelties on both sides.
[Footnote A: For the places mentioned in this chapter, and the track of Cambyses on his expedition, see the
map at the commencement of this volume.]
In fact, Cambyses, in this Egyptian campaign, pursued such a career of inhuman and reckless folly, that
people at last considered him insane. He began with some small semblance of moderation, but he proceeded,
in the end, to the perpetration of the most terrible excesses of violence and wrong.
As to his moderation, his treatment of Psammenitus personally is almost the only instance that we can record.
CHAPTER I. 8
In the course of the war, Psammenitus and all his family fell into Cambyses's hands as captives. A few days

afterward, Cambyses conducted the unhappy king without the gates of the city to exhibit a spectacle to him.
The spectacle was that of his beloved daughter, clothed in the garments of a slave, and attended by a company
of other maidens, the daughters of the nobles and other persons of distinction belonging to his court, all going
down to the river, with heavy jugs, to draw water. The fathers of all these hapless maidens had been brought
out with Psammenitus to witness the degradation and misery of their children. The maidens cried and sobbed
aloud as they went along, overwhelmed with shame and terror. Their fathers manifested the utmost agitation
and distress. Cambyses stood smiling by, highly enjoying the spectacle. Psammenitus alone appeared
unmoved. He gazed on the scene silent, motionless, and with a countenance which indicated no active
suffering; he seemed to be in a state of stupefaction and despair. Cambyses was disappointed, and his pleasure
was marred at finding that his victim did not feel more acutely the sting of the torment with which he was
endeavoring to goad him.
When this train had gone by, another came. It was a company of young men, with halters about their necks,
going to execution. Cambyses had ordered that for every one of the crew of his galley that the Egyptians had
killed, ten Egyptians should be executed. This proportion would require two thousand victims, as there had
been two hundred in the crew. These victims were to be selected from among the sons of the leading families;
and their parents, after having seen their delicate and gentle daughters go to their servile toil, were now next to
behold their sons march in a long and terrible array to execution. The son of Psammenitus was at the head of
the column. The Egyptian parents who stood around Psammenitus wept and lamented aloud, as one after
another saw his own child in the train. Psammenitus himself, however, remained as silent and motionless, and
with a countenance as vacant as before. Cambyses was again disappointed. The pleasure which the exhibition
afforded him was incomplete without visible manifestations of suffering in the victim for whose torture it was
principally designed.
After this train of captives had passed, there came a mixed collection of wretched and miserable men, such as
the siege and sacking of a city always produces in countless numbers. Among these was a venerable man
whom Psammenitus recognized as one of his friends. He had been a man of wealth and high station; he had
often been at the court of the king, and had been entertained at his table. He was now, however, reduced to the
last extremity of distress, and was begging of the people something to keep him from starving. The sight of
this man in such a condition seemed to awaken the king from his blank and death-like despair. He called his
old friend by name in a tone of astonishment and pity, and burst into tears.
Cambyses, observing this, sent a messenger to Psammenitus to inquire what it meant. "He wishes to know,"

said the messenger, "how it happens that you could see your own daughter set at work as a slave, and your son
led away to execution unmoved, and yet feel so much commiseration for the misfortunes of a stranger." We
might suppose that any one possessing the ordinary susceptibilities of the human soul would have understood
without an explanation the meaning of this, though it is not surprising that such a heartless monster as
Cambyses did not comprehend it. Psammenitus sent him word that he could not help weeping for his friend,
but that his distress and anguish on account of his children were too great for tears.
The Persians who were around Cambyses began now to feel a strong sentiment of compassion for the
unhappy king, and to intercede with Cambyses in his favor. They begged him, too, to spare Psammenitus's
son. It will interest those of our readers who have perused our history of Cyrus to know that Croesus, the
captive king of Lydia, whom they will recollect to have been committed to Cambyses's charge by his father,
just before the close of his life, when he was setting forth on his last fatal expedition, and who accompanied
Cambyses on this invasion of Egypt, was present on this occasion, and was one of the most earnest interceders
in Psammenitus's favor. Cambyses allowed himself to be persuaded. They sent off a messenger to order the
execution of the king's son to be stayed; but he arrived too late. The unhappy prince had already fallen.
Cambyses was so far appeased by the influence of these facts, that he abstained from doing Psammenitus or
his family any further injury.
CHAPTER I. 9
He, however, advanced up the Nile, ravaging and plundering the country as he went on, and at length, in the
course of his conquests, he gained possession of the tomb in which the embalmed body of Amasis was
deposited. He ordered this body to be taken out of its sarcophagus, and treated with every mark of ignominy.
His soldiers, by his orders, beat it with rods, as if it could still feel, and goaded it, and cut it with swords. They
pulled the hair out of the head by the roots, and loaded the lifeless form with every conceivable mark of insult
and ignominy. Finally, Cambyses ordered the mutilated remains that were left to be burned, which was a
procedure as abhorrent to the ideas and feelings of the Egyptians as could possibly be devised.
Cambyses took every opportunity to insult the religious, or as, perhaps, we ought to call them, the
superstitious feelings of the Egyptians. He broke into their temples, desecrated their altars, and subjected
every thing which they held most sacred to insult and ignominy. Among their objects of religious veneration
was the sacred bull called Apis. This animal was selected from time to time, from the country at large, by the
priests, by means of certain marks which they pretended to discover upon its body, and which indicated a
divine and sacred character. The sacred bull thus found was kept in a magnificent temple, and attended and

fed in a most sumptuous manner. In serving him, the attendants used vessels of gold.
Cambyses arrived at the city where Apis was kept at a time when the priests were celebrating some sacred
occasion with festivities and rejoicings. He was himself then returning from an unsuccessful expedition which
he had made, and, as he entered the town, stung with vexation and anger at his defeat, the gladness and joy
which the Egyptians manifested in their ceremonies served only to irritate him, and to make him more angry
than ever. He killed the priests who were officiating. He then demanded to be taken into the edifice to see the
sacred animal, and there, after insulting the feelings of the worshipers in every possible way by ridicule and
scornful words, he stabbed the innocent bull with his dagger. The animal died of the wound, and the whole
country was filled with horror and indignation. The people believed that this deed would most assuredly bring
down upon the impious perpetrator of it the judgments of heaven.
Cambyses organized, while he was in Egypt, several mad expeditions into the surrounding countries. In a fit
of passion, produced by an unsatisfactory answer to an embassage, he set off suddenly, and without any
proper preparation, to march into Ethiopia. The provisions of his army were exhausted before he had
performed a fifth part of the march. Still, in his infatuation, he determined to go on. The soldiers subsisted for
a time on such vegetables as they could find by the way; when these failed, they slaughtered and ate their
beasts of burden; and finally, in the extremity of their famine, they began to kill and devour one another; then,
at length, Cambyses concluded to return. He sent off, too, at one time, a large army across the desert toward
the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, without any of the necessary precautions for such a march. This army never
reached their destination, and they never returned. The people of the Oasis said that they were overtaken by a
sand storm in the desert, and were all overwhelmed.
[Illustration: THE ARMY OF CAMBYSES OVERWHELMED IN THE DESERT.]
There was a certain officer in attendance on Cambyses named Prexaspes. He was a sort of confidential friend
and companion of the king; and his son, who was a fair, and graceful, and accomplished youth, was the king's
cup-bearer, which was an office of great consideration and honor. One day Cambyses asked Prexaspes what
the Persians generally thought of him. Prexaspes replied that they thought and spoke well of him in all
respects but one. The king wished to know what the exception was. Prexaspes rejoined, that it was the general
opinion that he was too much addicted to wine. Cambyses was offended at this reply; and, under the influence
of the feeling, so wholly unreasonable and absurd, which so often leads men to be angry with the innocent
medium through which there comes to them any communication which they do not like, he determined to
punish Prexaspes for his freedom. He ordered his son, therefore, the cup-bearer, to take his place against the

wall on the other side of the room. "Now," said he, "I will put what the Persians say to the test." As he said
this, he took up a bow and arrow which were at his side, and began to fit the arrow to the string. "If," said he,
"I do not shoot him exactly through the heart, it shall prove that the Persians are right. If I do, then they are
wrong, as it will show that I do not drink so much as to make my hand unsteady." So saying, he drew the bow,
CHAPTER I. 10
the arrow flew through the air and pierced the poor boy's breast. He fell, and Cambyses coolly ordered the
attendants to open the body, and let Prexaspes see whether the arrow had not gone through the heart.
These, and a constant succession of similar acts of atrocious and reckless cruelty and folly, led the world to
say that Cambyses was insane.
CHAPTER I. 11
CHAPTER II.
THE END OF CAMBYSES.
B.C. 523-522
Cambyses's profligate conduct He marries his own sisters Consultation of the Persian judges Their
opinion Smerdis Jealousy of Cambyses The two magi Cambyses suspicious He plans an invasion of
Ethiopia Island of Elephantine The Icthyophagi Classes of savage nations Embassadors sent to
Ethiopia The presents The Ethiopian king detects the imposture The Ethiopian king's opinion of
Cambyses's presents The Ethiopian bow Return of the Icthyophagi Jealousy of Cambyses He orders
Smerdis to be murdered Cambyses grows more cruel Twelve noblemen buried alive Cambyses's cruelty
to his sister Her death The venerable Croesus His advice to Cambyses Cambyses's rage at Croesus He
attempts to kill him The declaration of the oracle Ecbatane, Susa, and Babylon Cambyses returns
northward He enters Syria A herald proclaims Smerdis The herald seized Probable explanation Rage
of Cambyses Cambyses mortally wounded His remorse and despair Cambyses calls his nobles about
him His dying declaration Death of Cambyses His dying declaration discredited.
Among the other acts of profligate wickedness which have blackened indelibly and forever Cambyses's name,
he married two of his own sisters, and brought one of them with him to Egypt as his wife. The natural
instincts of all men, except those whose early life has been given up to the most shameless and dissolute
habits of vice, are sufficient to preserve them from such crimes as these. Cambyses himself felt, it seems,
some misgivings when contemplating the first of these marriages; and he sent to a certain council of judges,
whose province it was to interpret the laws, asking them their opinion of the rightfulness of such a marriage.

Kings ask the opinion of their legal advisers in such cases, not because they really wish to know whether the
act in question is right or wrong, but because, having themselves determined upon the performance of it, they
wish their counselors to give it a sort of legal sanction, in order to justify the deed, and diminish the popular
odium which it might otherwise incur.
The Persian judges whom Cambyses consulted on this occasion understood very well what was expected of
them. After a grave deliberation, they returned answer to the king that, though they could find no law allowing
a man to marry his sister, they found many which authorized a king of Persia to do whatever he thought best.
Cambyses accordingly carried his plan into execution. He married first the older sister, whose name was
Atossa. Atossa became subsequently a personage of great historical distinction. The daughter of Cyrus, the
wife of Darius, and the mother of Xerxes, she was the link that bound together the three most magnificent
potentates of the whole Eastern world. How far these sisters were willing participators in the guilt of their
incestuous marriages we can not now know. The one who went with Cambyses into Egypt was of a humane,
and gentle, and timid disposition, being in these respects wholly unlike her brother; and it may be that she
merely yielded, in the transaction of her marriage, to her brother's arbitrary and imperious will.
Besides this sister, Cambyses had brought his brother Smerdis with him into Egypt. Smerdis was younger
than Cambyses, but he was superior to him in strength and personal accomplishments. Cambyses was very
jealous of this superiority. He did not dare to leave his brother in Persia, to manage the government in his
stead during his absence, lest he should take advantage of the temporary power thus committed to his hands,
and usurp the throne altogether. He decided, therefore, to bring Smerdis with him into Egypt, and to leave the
government of the state in the hands of a regency composed of two magi. These magi were public officers of
distinction, but, having no hereditary claims to the crown, Cambyses thought there would be little danger of
their attempting to usurp it. It happened, however, that the name of one of these magi was Smerdis. This
coincidence between the magian's name and that of the prince led, in the end, as will presently be seen, to very
important consequences.
CHAPTER II. 12
The uneasiness and jealousy which Cambyses felt in respect to his brother was not wholly allayed by the
arrangement which he thus made for keeping him in his army, and so under his own personal observation and
command. Smerdis evinced, on various occasions, so much strength and skill, that Cambyses feared his
influence among the officers and soldiers, and was rendered continually watchful, suspicious, and afraid. A
circumstance at last occurred which excited his jealousy more than ever, and he determined to send Smerdis

home again to Persia. The circumstance was this:
After Cambyses had succeeded in obtaining full possession of Egypt, he formed, among his other wild and
desperate schemes, the design of invading the territories of a nation of Ethiopians who lived in the interior of
Africa, around and beyond the sources of the Nile. The Ethiopians were celebrated for their savage strength
and bravery. Cambyses wished to obtain information respecting them and their country before setting out on
his expedition against them, and he determined to send spies into their country to obtain it. But, as Ethiopia
was a territory so remote, and as its institutions and customs, and the language, the dress, and the manners of
its inhabitants were totally different from those of all the other nations of the earth, and were almost wholly
unknown to the Persian army, it was impossible to send Persians in disguise, with any hope that they could
enter and explore the country without being discovered. It was very doubtful, in fact, whether, if such spies
were to be sent, they could succeed in reaching Ethiopia at all.
Now there was, far up the Nile, near the cataracts, at a place where the river widens and forms a sort of bay, a
large and fertile island called Elephantine, which was inhabited by a half-savage tribe called the Icthyophagi.
They lived mainly by fishing on the river, and, consequently, they had many boats, and were accustomed to
make long excursions up and down the stream. Their name was, in fact, derived from their occupation. It was
a Greek word, and might be translated "Fishermen."[B] The manners and customs of half-civilized or savage
nations depend entirely, of course, upon the modes in which they procure their subsistence. Some depend on
hunting wild beasts, some on rearing flocks and herds of tame animals, some on cultivating the ground, and
some on fishing in rivers or in the sea. These four different modes of procuring food result in as many totally
diverse modes of life: it is a curious fact, however, that while a nation of hunters differs very essentially from
a nation of herdsmen or of fishermen, though they may live, perhaps, in the same neighborhood with them,
still, all nations of hunters, however widely they may be separated in geographical position, very strongly
resemble one another in character, in customs, in institutions, and in all the usages of life. It is so, moreover,
with all the other types of national constitution mentioned above. The Greeks observed these characteristics of
the various savage tribes with which they became acquainted, and whenever they met with a tribe that lived
by fishing, they called them Icthyophagi.
[Footnote B: Literally, fish-eaters.]
Cambyses sent to the Icthyophagi of the island of Elephantine, requiring them to furnish him with a number of
persons acquainted with the route to Ethiopia and with the Ethiopian language, that he might send them as an
embassy. He also provided some presents to be sent as a token of friendship to the Ethiopian king. The

presents were, however, only a pretext, to enable the embassadors, who were, in fact, spies, to go to the capital
and court of the Ethiopian monarch in safety, and bring back to Cambyses all the information which they
should be able to obtain.
The presents consisted of such toys and ornaments as they thought would most please the fancy of a savage
king. There were some purple vestments of a very rich and splendid dye, and a golden chain for the neck,
golden bracelets for the wrists, an alabaster box of very precious perfumes, and other similar trinkets and toys.
There was also a large vessel filled with wine.
The Icthyophagi took these presents, and set out on their expedition. After a long and toilsome voyage and
journey, they came to the country of the Ethiopians, and delivered their presents, together with the message
which Cambyses had intrusted to them. The presents, they said, had been sent by Cambyses as a token of his
desire to become the friend and ally of the Ethiopian king.
CHAPTER II. 13
The king, instead of being deceived by this hypocrisy, detected the imposture at once. He knew very well, he
said, what was the motive of Cambyses in sending such an embassage to him, and he should advise Cambyses
to be content with his own dominions, instead of planning aggressions of violence, and schemes and
stratagems of deceit against his neighbors, in order to get possession of theirs. He then began to look at the
presents which the embassadors had brought, which, however, he appeared very soon to despise. The purple
vest first attracted his attention. He asked whether that was the true, natural color of the stuff, or a false one.
The messengers told him that the linen was dyed, and began to explain the process to him. The mind of the
savage potentate, however, instead of being impressed, as the messengers supposed he would have been
through their description, with a high idea of the excellence and superiority of Persian art, only despised the
false show of what he considered an artificial and fictitious beauty. "The beauty of Cambyses's dresses," said
he, "is as deceitful, it seems, as the fair show of his professions of friendship." As to the golden bracelets and
necklaces, the king looked upon them with contempt. He thought that they were intended for fetters and
chains, and said that, however well they might answer among the effeminate Persians, they were wholly
insufficient to confine such sinews as he had to deal with. The wine, however, he liked. He drank it with great
pleasure, and told the Icthyophagi that it was the only article among all their presents that was worth
receiving.
In return for the presents which Cambyses had sent him, the King of the Ethiopians, who was a man of
prodigious size and strength, took down his bow and gave it to the Icthyophagi, telling them to carry it to

Cambyses as a token of his defiance, and to ask him to see if he could find a man in all his army who could
bend it. "Tell Cambyses," he added, "that when his soldiers are able to bend such bows as that, it will be time
for him to think of invading the territories of the Ethiopians; and that, in the mean time, he ought to consider
himself very fortunate that the Ethiopians were not grasping and ambitious enough to attempt the invasion of
his."
When the Icthyophagi returned to Cambyses with this message, the strongest men in the Persian camp were of
course greatly interested in examining and trying the bow. Smerdis was the only one that could be found who
was strong enough to bend it; and he, by the superiority to the others which he thus evinced, gained great
renown. Cambyses was filled with jealousy and anger. He determined to send Smerdis back again to Persia.
"It will be better," thought he to himself, "to incur whatever danger there may be of his exciting revolt at
home, than to have him present in my court, subjecting me to continual mortification and chagrin by the
perpetual parade of his superiority."
His mind was, however, not at ease after his brother had gone. Jealousy and suspicion in respect to Smerdis
perplexed his waking thoughts and troubled his dreams. At length, one night, he thought he saw Smerdis
seated on a royal throne in Persia, his form expanded supernaturally to such a prodigious size that he touched
the heavens with his head. The next day, Cambyses, supposing that the dream portended danger that Smerdis
would be one day in possession of the throne, determined to put a final and perpetual end to all these troubles
and fears, and he sent for an officer of his court, Prexaspes the same whose son he shot through the heart
with an arrow, as described in the last chapter and commanded him to proceed immediately to Persia, and
there to find Smerdis, and kill him. The murder of Prexaspes's son, though related in the last chapter as an
illustration of Cambyses's character, did not actually take place till after Prexaspes returned from this
expedition.
Prexaspes went to Persia, and executed the orders of the king by the assassination of Smerdis. There are
different accounts of the mode which he adopted for accomplishing his purpose. One is, that he contrived
some way to drown him in the sea; another, that he poisoned him; and a third, that he killed him in the forests,
when he was out on a hunting excursion. At all events, the deed was done, and Prexaspes went back to
Cambyses, and reported to him that he had nothing further to fear from his brother's ambition.
In the mean time, Cambyses went on from bad to worse in his government, growing every day more despotic
and tyrannical, and abandoning himself to fits of cruelty and passion which became more and more excessive
CHAPTER II. 14

and insane. At one time, on some slight provocation, he ordered twelve distinguished noblemen of his court to
be buried alive. It is astonishing that there can be institutions and arrangements in the social state which will
give one man such an ascendency over others that such commands can be obeyed. On another occasion,
Cambyses's sister and wife, who had mourned the death of her brother Smerdis, ventured a reproach to
Cambyses for having destroyed him. She was sitting at table, with some plant or flower in her hand, which
she slowly picked to pieces, putting the fragments on the table. She asked Cambyses whether he thought the
flower looked fairest and best in fragments, or in its original and natural integrity. "It looked best, certainly,"
Cambyses said, "when it was whole." "And yet," said she, "you have begun to take to pieces and destroy our
family, as I have destroyed this flower." Cambyses sprang upon his unhappy sister, on hearing this reproof,
with the ferocity of a tiger. He threw her down and leaped upon her. The attendants succeeded in rescuing her
and bearing her away; but she had received a fatal injury. She fell immediately into a premature and unnatural
sickness, and died.
These fits of sudden and terrible passion to which Cambyses was subject, were often followed, when they had
passed by, as is usual in such cases, with remorse and misery; and sometimes the officers of Cambyses,
anticipating a change in their master's feelings, did not execute his cruel orders, but concealed the object of his
blind and insensate vengeance until the paroxysm was over. They did this once in the case of Croesus.
Croesus, who was now a venerable man, advanced in years, had been for a long time the friend and faithful
counselor of Cambyses's father. He had known Cambyses himself from his boyhood, and had been charged by
his father to watch over him and counsel him, and aid him, on all occasions which might require it, with his
experience and wisdom. Cambyses, too, had been solemnly charged by his father Cyrus, at the last interview
that he had with him before his death, to guard and protect Croesus, as his father's ancient and faithful friend,
and to treat him, as long as he lived, with the highest consideration and honor.
Under these circumstances, Croesus considered himself justified in remonstrating one day with Cambyses
against his excesses and his cruelty. He told him that he ought not to give himself up to the control of such
violent and impetuous passions; that, though his Persian soldiers and subjects had borne with him thus far, he
might, by excessive oppression and cruelty, exhaust their forbearance and provoke them to revolt against him,
and that thus he might suddenly lose his power, through his intemperate and inconsiderate use of it. Croesus
apologized for offering these counsels, saying that he felt bound to warn Cambyses of his danger, in
obedience to the injunctions of Cyrus, his father.
Cambyses fell into a violent passion at hearing these words. He told Croesus that he was amazed at his

presumption in daring to offer him advice, and then began to load his venerable counselor with the bitterest
invectives and reproaches. He taunted him with his own misfortunes, in losing, as he had done, years before,
his own kingdom of Lydia, and then accused him of having been the means, through his foolish counsels, of
leading his father, Cyrus, into the worst of the difficulties which befell him toward the close of his life. At
last, becoming more and more enraged by the reaction upon himself of his own angry utterance, he told
Croesus that he had hated him for a long time, and for a long time had wished to punish him; "and now," said
he, "you have given me an opportunity." So saying, he seized his bow, and began to fit an arrow to the string.
Croesus fled. Cambyses ordered his attendants to pursue him, and when they had taken him, to kill him. The
officers knew that Cambyses would regret his rash and reckless command as soon as his anger should have
subsided, and so, instead of slaying Croesus, they concealed him. A few days after, when the tyrant began to
express his remorse and sorrow at having destroyed his venerable friend in the heat of passion, and to mourn
his death, they told him that Croesus was still alive. They had ventured, they said, to save him, till they could
ascertain whether it was the king's real and deliberate determination that he must die. The king was overjoyed
to find Croesus still alive, but he would not forgive those who had been instrumental in saving him. He
ordered every one of them to be executed.
Cambyses was the more reckless and desperate in these tyrannical cruelties because he believed that he
possessed a sort of charmed life. He had consulted an oracle, it seems, in Media, in respect to his prospects of
life, and the oracle had informed him that he would die at Ecbatane. Now Ecbatane was one of the three great
CHAPTER II. 15
capitals of his empire, Susa and Babylon being the others. Ecbatane was the most northerly of these cities, and
the most remote from danger. Babylon and Susa were the points where the great transactions of government
chiefly centered, while Ecbatane was more particularly the private residence of the kings. It was their refuge
in danger, their retreat in sickness and age. In a word, Susa was their seat of government, Babylon their great
commercial emporium, but Ecbatane was their home.
And thus as the oracle, when Cambyses inquired in respect to the circumstances of his death, had said that it
was decreed by the fates that he should die at Ecbatane, it meant, as he supposed, that he should die in peace,
in his bed, at the close of the usual period allotted to the life of man. Considering thus that the fates had
removed all danger of a sudden and violent death from his path, he abandoned himself to his career of vice
and folly, remembering only the substance of the oracle, while the particular form of words in which it was
expressed passed from his mind.

At length Cambyses, after completing his conquests in Egypt, returned to the northward along the shores of
the Mediterranean Sea, until he came into Syria. The province of Galilee, so often mentioned in the sacred
Scriptures, was a part of Syria. In traversing Galilee at the head of the detachment of troops that was
accompanying him, Cambyses came, one day, to a small town, and encamped there. The town itself was of so
little importance that Cambyses did not, at the time of his arriving at it, even know its name. His encampment
at the place, however, was marked by a very memorable event, namely, he met with a herald here, who was
traveling through Syria, saying that he had been sent from Susa to proclaim to the people of Syria that
Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, had assumed the throne, and to enjoin upon them all to obey no orders except such
as should come from him!
Cambyses had supposed that Smerdis was dead. Prexaspes, when he had returned from Susa, had reported that
he had killed him. He now, however, sent for Prexaspes, and demanded of him what this proclamation could
mean. Prexaspes renewed, and insisted upon, his declaration that Smerdis was dead. He had destroyed him
with his own hands, and had seen him buried. "If the dead can rise from the grave," added Prexaspes, "then
Smerdis may perhaps, raise a revolt and appear against you; but not otherwise."
Prexaspes then recommended that the king should send and seize the herald, and inquire particularly of him in
respect to the government in whose name he was acting. Cambyses did so. The herald was taken and brought
before the king. On being questioned whether it was true that Smerdis had really assumed the government and
commissioned him to make proclamation of the fact, he replied that it was so. He had not seen Smerdis
himself, he said, for he kept himself shut up very closely in his palace; but he was informed of his accession
by one of the magians whom Cambyses had left in command. It was by him, he said, that he had been
commissioned to proclaim Smerdis as king.
Prexaspes then said that he had no doubt that the two magians whom Cambyses had left in charge of the
government had contrived to seize the throne. He reminded Cambyses that the name of one of them was
Smerdis, and that probably that was the Smerdis who was usurping the supreme command. Cambyses said
that he was convinced that this supposition was true. His dream, in which he had seen a vision of Smerdis,
with his head reaching to the heavens, referred, he had no doubt, to the magian Smerdis, and not to his
brother. He began bitterly to reproach himself for having caused his innocent brother to be put to death; but
the remorse which he thus felt for his crime, in assassinating an imaginary rival, soon gave way to rage and
resentment against the real usurper. He called for his horse, and began to mount him in hot haste, to give
immediate orders, and make immediate preparations for marching to Susa.

As he bounded into the saddle, with his mind in this state of reckless desperation, the sheath, by some
accident or by some carelessness caused by his headlong haste, fell from his sword, and the naked point of the
weapon pierced his thigh. The attendants took him from his horse, and conveyed him again to his tent. The
wound, on examination, proved to be a very dangerous one, and the strong passions, the vexation, the
disappointment, the impotent rage, which were agitating the mind of the patient, exerted an influence
CHAPTER II. 16
extremely unfavorable to recovery. Cambyses, terrified at the prospect of death, asked what was the name of
the town where he was lying. They told him it was Ecbatane.
He had never thought before of the possibility that there might be some other Ecbatane besides his splendid
royal retreat in Media; but now, when he learned that was the name of the place where he was then encamped,
he felt sure that his hour was come, and he was overwhelmed with remorse and despair.
He suffered, too, inconceivable pain and anguish from his wound. The sword had pierced to the bone, and the
inflammation which had supervened was of the worst character. After some days, the acuteness of the agony
which he at first endured passed gradually away, though the extent of the injury resulting from the wound was
growing every day greater and more hopeless. The sufferer lay, pale, emaciated, and wretched, on his couch,
his mind, in every interval of bodily agony, filling up the void with the more dreadful sufferings of horror and
despair.
At length, on the twentieth day after his wound had been received, he called the leading nobles of his court
and officers of his army about his bedside, and said to them that he was about to die, and that he was
compelled, by the calamity which had befallen him, to declare to them what he would otherwise have
continued to keep concealed. The person who had usurped the throne under the name of Smerdis, he now said,
was not, and could not be, his brother Smerdis, the son of Cyrus. He then proceeded to give them an account
of the manner in which his fears in respect to his brother had been excited by his dream, and of the desperate
remedy that he had resorted to in ordering him to be killed. He believed, he said, that the usurper was Smerdis
the magian, whom he had left as one of the regents when he set out on his Egyptian campaign. He urged them,
therefore, not to submit to his sway, but to go back to Media, and if they could not conquer him and put him
down by open war, to destroy him by deceit and stratagem, or in any way whatever by which the end could be
accomplished. Cambyses urged this with so much of the spirit of hatred and revenge beaming in his hollow
and glassy eye as to show that sickness, pain, and the approach of death, which had made so total a change in
the wretched sufferer's outward condition, had altered nothing within.

Very soon after making this communication to his nobles, Cambyses expired.
It will well illustrate the estimate which those who knew him best, formed of this great hero's character, to
state, that those who heard this solemn declaration did not believe one word of it from beginning to end. They
supposed that the whole story which the dying tyrant had told them, although he had scarcely breath enough
left to tell it, was a fabrication, dictated by his fraternal jealousy and hate. They believed that it was really the
true Smerdis who had been proclaimed king, and that Cambyses had invented, in his dying moments, the story
of his having killed him, in order to prevent the Persians from submitting peaceably to his reign.
CHAPTER II. 17
CHAPTER III.
SMERDIS THE MAGIAN.
B.C. 520
Usurpation of the magians Circumstances favoring it Murder of Smerdis not known He is supposed to be
alive Precautions taken by Smerdis Effect of Cambyses's measures Opinion in regard to
Smerdis Acquiescence of the people Dangerous situation of Smerdis Arrangement with
Patizithes Smerdis lives in retirement Special grounds of apprehension Cambyses's wives Smerdis
appropriates them Phædyma Measures of Otanes Otanes's communications with his daughter Her
replies Phædyma discovers the deception Otanes and the six nobles Arrival of Darius Secret
consultations Various opinions Views of Darius Apology for a falsehood Opinion of
Gobryas Uneasiness of the magi Situation of Prexaspes Measures of the magi An assembly of the
people Decision of Prexaspes His speech from the tower Death of Prexaspes The conspirators The
omen The conspirators enter the palace Combat with the magi Flight of Smerdis Smerdis is
killed Exultation of the conspirators General massacre of the magians.
Cambyses and his friends had been right in their conjectures that it was Smerdis the magian who had usurped
the Persian throne. This Smerdis resembled, it was said, the son of Cyrus in his personal appearance as well as
in name. The other magian who had been associated with him in the regency when Cambyses set out from
Persia on his Egyptian campaign was his brother. His name was Patizithes. When Cyrus had been some time
absent, these magians, having in the mean time, perhaps, heard unfavorable accounts of his conduct and
character, and knowing the effect which such wanton tyranny must have in alienating from him the allegiance
of his subjects, conceived the design of taking possession of the empire in their own name. The great distance
of Cambyses and his army from home, and his long-continued absence, favored this plan. Their own position,

too, as they were already in possession of the capitals and the fortresses of the country, aided them; and then
the name of Smerdis, being the same with that of the brother of Cambyses, was a circumstance that greatly
promoted the success of the undertaking. In addition to all these general advantages, the cruelty of Cambyses
was the means of furnishing them with a most opportune occasion for putting their plans into execution.
The reader will recollect that, as was related in the last chapter, Cambyses first sent his brother Smerdis home,
and afterward, when alarmed by his dream, he sent Prexaspes to murder him. Now the return of Smerdis was
publicly and generally known, while his assassination by Prexaspes was kept a profound secret. Even the
Persians connected with Cambyses's court in Egypt had not heard of the perpetration of this crime, until
Cambyses confessed it on his dying bed, and even then, as was stated in the last chapter, they did not believe
it. It is not probable that it was known in Media and Persia; so that, after Prexaspes accomplished his work,
and returned to Cambyses with the report of it, it was probably generally supposed that his brother was still
alive, and was residing somewhere in one or another of the royal palaces.
Such royal personages were often accustomed to live thus, in a state of great seclusion, spending their time in
effeminate pleasures within the walls of their palaces, parks, and gardens. When the royal Smerdis, therefore,
secretly and suddenly disappeared, it would be very easy for the magian Smerdis, with the collusion of a
moderate number of courtiers and attendants, to take his place, especially if he continued to live in retirement,
and exhibited himself as little as possible to public view. Thus it was that Cambyses himself, by the very
crimes which he committed to shield himself from all danger of a revolt, opened the way which specially
invited it, and almost insured its success. Every particular step that he took, too, helped to promote the end.
His sending Smerdis home; his waiting an interval, and then sending Prexaspes to destroy him; his ordering
his assassination to be secret these, and all the other attendant circumstances, were only so many preliminary
steps, preparing the way for the success of the revolution which was to accomplish his ruin. He was, in a
word, his own destroyer. Like other wicked men, he found, in the end, that the schemes of wickedness which
he had malignantly aimed at the destruction of others, had been all the time slowly and surely working out his
CHAPTER III. 18
own.
The people of Persia, therefore, were prepared by Cambyses's own acts to believe that the usurper Smerdis
was really Cyrus's son, and, next to Cambyses, the heir to the throne. The army of Cambyses, too, in Egypt,
believed the same. It was natural that they should do so for they placed no confidence whatever in Cambyses's
dying declarations; and since intelligence, which seemed to be official, came from Susa declaring that

Smerdis was still alive, and that he had actually taken possession of the throne, there was no apparent reason
for doubting the fact. Besides, Prexaspes, as soon as Cambyses was dead, considered it safer for him to deny
than to confess having murdered the prince. He therefore declared that Cambyses's story was false, and that he
had no doubt that Smerdis, the monarch in whose name the government was administered at Susa, was the son
of Cyrus, the true and rightful heir to the throne. Thus all parties throughout the empire acquiesced peaceably
in what they supposed to be the legitimate succession.
In the mean time, the usurper had placed himself in an exceedingly dizzy and precarious situation, and one
which it would require a great deal of address and skillful management to sustain. The plan arranged between
himself and his brother for a division of the advantages which they had secured by their joint and common
cunning was, that Smerdis was to enjoy the ease and pleasure, and Patizithes the substantial power of the
royalty which they had so stealthily seized. This was the safest plan. Smerdis, by living secluded, and
devoting himself to retired and private pleasures, was the more likely to escape public observation; while
Patizithes, acting as his prime minister of state, could attend councils, issue orders, review troops, dispatch
embassies, and perform all the other outward functions of supreme command, with safety as well as pleasure.
Patizithes seems to have been, in fact, the soul of the whole plan. He was ambitious and aspiring in character,
and if he could only himself enjoy the actual exercise of royal power, he was willing that his brother should
enjoy the honor of possessing it. Patizithes, therefore, governed the realm, acting, however, in all that he did,
in Smerdis's name.
Smerdis, on his part, was content to take possession of the palaces, the parks, and the gardens of Media and
Persia, and to live in them in retired and quiet luxury and splendor. He appeared seldom in public, and then
only under such circumstances as should not expose him to any close observation on the part of the spectators.
His figure, air, and manner, and the general cast of his countenance, were very much like those of the prince
whom he was attempting to personate. There was one mark, however, by which he thought that there was
danger that he might be betrayed, and that was, his ears had been cut off. This had been done many years
before, by command of Cyrus, on account of some offense of which he had been guilty. The marks of the
mutilation could, indeed, on public occasions, be concealed by the turban, or helmet, or other head-dress
which he wore; but in private there was great danger either that the loss of the ears, or the studied effort to
conceal it, should be observed. Smerdis was, therefore, very careful to avoid being seen in private, by keeping
himself closely secluded. He shut himself up in the apartments of his palace at Susa, within the citadel, and
never invited the Persian nobles to visit him there.

Among the other means of luxury and pleasure which Smerdis found in the royal palaces, and which he
appropriated to his own enjoyment, were Cambyses's wives. In those times, Oriental princes and
potentates as is, in fact, the case at the present day, in many Oriental countries possessed a great number of
wives, who were bound to them by different sorts of matrimonial ties, more or less permanent, and bringing
them into relations more or less intimate with their husband and sovereign. These wives were in many
respects in the condition of slaves: in one particular they were especially so, namely, that on the death of a
sovereign they descended, like any other property, to the heir, who added as many of them as he pleased to his
own seraglio. Until this was done, the unfortunate women were shut up in close seclusion on the death of their
lord, like mourners who retire from the world when suffering any great and severe bereavement.
The wives of Cambyses were appropriated by Smerdis to himself on his taking possession of the throne and
hearing of Cambyses's death. Among them was Atossa, who has already been mentioned as the daughter of
Cyrus, and, of course, the sister of Cambyses as well as his wife. In order to prevent these court ladies from
CHAPTER III. 19
being the means, in any way, of discovering the imposture which he was practicing, the magian continued to
keep them all closely shut up in their several separate apartments, only allowing a favored few to visit him,
one by one, in turn, while he prevented their having any communication with one another.
The name of one of these ladies was Phædyma. She was the daughter of a Persian noble of the highest rank
and influence, named Otanes. Otanes, as well as some other nobles of the court, had observed and reflected
upon the extraordinary circumstances connected with the accession of Smerdis to the throne, and the singular
mode of life that he led in secluding himself, in a manner so extraordinary for a Persian monarch, from all
intercourse with his nobles and his people. The suspicions of Otanes and his associates were excited, but no
one dared to communicate his thoughts to the others. At length, however, Otanes, who was a man of great
energy as well as sagacity and discretion, resolved that he would take some measures to ascertain the truth.
He first sent a messenger to Phædyma, his daughter, asking of her whether it was really Smerdis, the son of
Cyrus, who received her when she went to visit the king. Phædyma, in return, sent her father word that she did
not know, for she had never seen Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, before the death of Cambyses. She therefore
could not say, of her own personal knowledge, whether the king was the genuine Smerdis or not. Otanes then
sent to Phædyma a second time, requesting her to ask the queen Atossa. Atossa was the sister of Smerdis the
prince, and had known him from his childhood. Phædyma sent back word to her father that she could not
speak to Atossa, for she was kept closely shut up in her own apartments, without the opportunity to

communicate with any one. Otanes then sent a third time to his daughter, telling her that there was one
remaining mode by which she might ascertain the truth, and that was, the next time that she visited the king,
to feel for his ears when he was asleep. If it was Smerdis the magian, she would find that he had none. He
urged his daughter to do this by saying that, if the pretended king was really an impostor, the imposture ought
to be made known, and that she, being of noble birth, ought to have the courage and energy to assist in
discovering it. To this Phædyma replied that she would do as her father desired, though she knew that she
hazarded her life in the attempt. "If he has no ears," said she, "and if I awaken him in attempting to feel for
them, he will kill me; I am sure that he will kill me on the spot."
The next time that it came to Phædyma's turn to visit the king, she did as her father had requested. She passed
her hand very cautiously beneath the king's turban, and found that his ears had been cut off close to his head.
Early in the morning she communicated the knowledge of the fact to her father.
[Illustration: PHÆDYMA FEELING FOR SMERDIS'S EARS.]
Otanes immediately made the case known to two of his friends, Persian nobles, who had, with him, suspected
the imposture, and had consulted together before in respect to the means of detecting it. The question was,
what was now to be done. After some deliberation, it was agreed that each of them should communicate the
discovery which they had made to one other person, such as each should select from among the circle of his
friends as the one on whose resolution, prudence, and fidelity he could most implicitly rely. This was done,
and the number admitted to the secret was thus increased to six. At this juncture it happened that Darius, the
son of Hystaspes, the young man who has already been mentioned as the subject of Cyrus's dream, came to
Susa. Darius was a man of great prominence and popularity. His father, Hystaspes, was at that time the
governor of the province of Persia, and Darius had been residing with him in that country. As soon as the six
conspirators heard of his arrival, they admitted him to their councils, and thus their number was increased to
seven.
They immediately began to hold secret consultations for the purpose of determining how it was best to
proceed, first binding themselves by the most solemn oaths never to betray one another, however their
undertaking might end. Darius told them that he had himself discovered the imposture and usurpation of
Smerdis, and that he had come from Persia for the purpose of slaying him; and that now, since it appeared that
the secret was known to so many, he was of opinion that they ought to act at once with the utmost decision.
He thought there would be great danger in delay.
CHAPTER III. 20

Otanes, on the other hand, thought that they were not yet ready for action. They must first increase their
numbers. Seven persons were too few to attempt to revolutionize an empire. He commended the courage and
resolution which Darius displayed, but he thought that a more cautious and deliberate policy would be far
more likely to conduct them to a safe result.
Darius replied that the course which Otanes recommended would certainly ruin them. "If we make many other
persons acquainted with our plans," said he, "there will be some, notwithstanding all our precautions, who will
betray us, for the sake of the immense rewards which they well know they would receive in that case from the
king. No," he added, "we must act ourselves, and alone. We must do nothing to excite suspicion, but must go
at once into the palace, penetrate boldly into Smerdis's presence, and slay him before he has time to suspect
our designs."
"But we can not get into his presence," replied Otanes. "There are guards stationed at every gate and door,
who will not allow us to pass. If we attempt to kill them, a tumult will be immediately raised, and the alarm
given, and all our designs will thus be baffled."
"There will be little difficulty about the guards," said Darius. "They know us all, and, from deference to our
rank and station, they will let us pass without suspicion, especially if we act boldly and promptly, and do not
give them time to stop and consider what to do. Besides, I can say that I have just arrived from Persia with
important dispatches for the king, and that I must be admitted immediately into his presence. If a falsehood
must be told, so let it be. The urgency of the crisis demands and sanctions it."
It may seem strange to the reader, considering the ideas and habits of the times, that Darius should have even
thought it necessary to apologize to his confederates for his proposal of employing falsehood in the
accomplishment of their plans; and it is, in fact, altogether probable that the apology which he is made to utter
is his historian's, and not his own.
The other conspirators had remained silent during this discussion between Darius and Otanes; but now a third,
whose name was Gobryas, expressed his opinion in favor of the course which Darius recommended. He was
aware, he said, that, in attempting to force their way into the king's presence and kill him by a sudden assault,
they exposed themselves to the most imminent danger; but it was better for them to die in the manly attempt
to bring back the imperial power again into Persian hands, where it properly belonged, than to acquiesce any
further in its continuance in the possession of the ignoble Median priests who had so treacherously usurped it.
To this counsel they all finally agreed, and began to make arrangements for carrying their desperate enterprise
into execution.

In the mean time, very extraordinary events were transpiring in another part of the city. The two magi,
Smerdis the king and Patizithes his brother, had some cause, it seems, to fear that the nobles about the court,
and the officers of the Persian army, were not without suspicions that the reigning monarch was not the real
son of Cyrus. Rumors that Smerdis had been killed by Prexaspes, at the command of Cambyses, were in
circulation. These rumors were contradicted, it is true, in private, by Prexaspes, whenever he was forced to
speak of the subject; but he generally avoided it; and he spoke, when he spoke at all, in that timid and
undecided tone which men usually assume when they are persisting in a lie. In the mean time, the gloomy
recollections of his past life, the memory of his murdered son, remorse for his own crime in the assassination
of Smerdis, and anxiety on account of the extremely dangerous position in which he had placed himself by his
false denial of it, all conspired to harass his mind with perpetual restlessness and misery, and to make life a
burden.
In order to do something to quiet the suspicions which the magi feared were prevailing, they did not know
how extensively, they conceived the plan of inducing Prexaspes to declare in a more public and formal
manner what he had been asserting timidly in private, namely, that Smerdis had not been killed. They
CHAPTER III. 21
accordingly convened an assembly of the people in a court-yard of the palace, or perhaps took advantage of
some gathering casually convened, and proposed that Prexaspes should address them from a neighboring
tower. Prexaspes was a man of high rank and of great influence, and the magi thought that his public espousal
of their cause, and his open and decided contradiction of the rumor that he had killed Cambyses's brother,
would fully convince the Persians that it was really the rightful monarch that had taken possession of the
throne.
But the strength even of a strong man, when he has a lie to carry, soon becomes very small. That of Prexaspes
was already almost exhausted and gone. He had been wavering and hesitating before, and this proposal, that
he should commit himself so formally and solemnly, and in so public a manner, to statements wholly and
absolutely untrue, brought him to a stand. He decided, desperately, in his own mind, that he would go on in
his course of falsehood, remorse, and wretchedness no longer. He, however, pretended to accede to the
propositions of the magi. He ascended the tower, and began to address the people. Instead, however, of
denying that he had murdered Smerdis, he fully confessed to the astonished audience that he had really
committed that crime; he openly denounced the reigning Smerdis as an impostor, and called upon all who
heard him to rise at once, destroy the treacherous usurper, and vindicate the rights of the true Persian line. As

he went on, with vehement voice and gestures, in this speech, the utterance of which he knew sealed his own
destruction, he became more and more excited and reckless. He denounced his hearers in the severest
language if they failed to obey his injunctions, and imprecated upon them, in that event, all the curses of
Heaven. The people listened to this strange and sudden phrensy of eloquence in utter amazement, motionless
and silent; and before they or the officers of the king's household who were present had time even to consider
what to do, Prexaspes, coming abruptly to the conclusion of his harangue, threw himself headlong from the
parapet of the tower, and came down among them, lifeless and mangled, on the pavement below.
Of course, all was now tumult and commotion in the court-yard, and it happened to be just at this juncture that
the seven conspirators came from the place of their consultation to the palace, with a view of executing their
plans. They were soon informed of what had taken place. Otanes was now again disposed to postpone their
attempt upon the life of the king. The event which had occurred changed, he said, the aspect of the subject,
and they must wait until the tumult and excitement should have somewhat subsided. But Darius was more
eager than ever in favor of instantaneous action. He said that there was not a moment to be lost; for the magi,
so soon as they should be informed of the declarations and of the death of Prexaspes, would be alarmed, and
would take at once the most effectual precautions to guard against any sudden assault or surprise.
These arguments, at the very time in which Darius was offering them with so much vehemence and
earnestness, were strengthened by a very singular sort of confirmation; for while the conspirators stood
undetermined, they saw a flock of birds moving across the sky, which, on their more attentively regarding
them, proved to be seven hawks pursuing two vultures. This they regarded an omen, intended to signify to
them, by a divine intimation, that they ought to proceed. They hesitated, therefore, no longer.
They went together to the outer gates of the palace. The action of the guards who were stationed there was just
what Darius had predicted that it would be. Awed by the imposing spectacle of the approach of seven nobles
of the highest distinction, who were advancing, too, with an earnest and confident air, as if expecting no
obstacle to their admission, they gave way at once, and allowed them to enter. The conspirators went on until
they came to the inner apartments, where they found eunuchs in attendance at the doors. The eunuchs resisted,
and demanded angrily why the guards had let the strangers in. "Kill them," said the conspirators, and
immediately began to cut them down. The magi were within, already in consternation at the disclosures of
Prexaspes, of which they had just been informed. They heard the tumult and the outcries of the eunuchs at the
doors, and seized their arms, the one a bow and the other a spear. The conspirators rushed in. The bow was
useless in the close combat which ensued, and the magian who had taken it turned and fled. The other

defended himself with his spear for a moment, and wounded severely two of his assailants. The wounded
conspirators fell. Three others of the number continued the unequal combat with the armed magian, while
Darius and Gobryas rushed in pursuit of the other.
CHAPTER III. 22
The flying magian ran from one apartment to another until he reached a dark room, into which the blind
instinct of fear prompted him to rush, in the vain hope of concealment. Gobryas was foremost; he seized the
wretched fugitive by the waist, and struggled to hold him, while the magian struggled to get free. Gobryas
called upon Darius, who was close behind him, to strike. Darius, brandishing his sword, looked earnestly into
the obscure retreat, that he might see where to strike.
"Strike!" exclaimed Gobryas. "Why do you not strike?"
"I can not see," said Darius, "and I am afraid of wounding you."
"No matter," said Gobryas, struggling desperately all the time with his frantic victim. "Strike quick, if you kill
us both."
Darius struck. Gobryas loosened his hold, and the magian fell upon the floor, and there, stabbed again through
the heart by Darius's sword, almost immediately ceased to breathe.
They dragged the body to the light, and cut off the head. They did the same with the other magian, whom they
found that their confederates had killed when they returned to the apartments where they had left them
contending. The whole body of the conspirators then, except the two who were wounded, exulting in their
success, and wild with the excitement which such deeds always awaken, went forth into the streets of the city,
bearing the heads upon pikes as the trophies of their victory. They summoned the Persian soldiers to arms, and
announced every where that they had ascertained that the king was a priest and an impostor, and not their
legitimate sovereign, and that they had consequently killed him. They called upon the people to kill the
magians wherever they could find them, as if the whole class were implicated in the guilt of the usurping
brothers.
The populace in all countries are easily excited by such denunciations and appeals as these. The Persians
armed themselves, and ran to and fro every where in pursuit of the unhappy magians, and before night vast
numbers of them were slain.
CHAPTER III. 23
CHAPTER IV.
THE ACCESSION OF DARIUS.

B.C. 520
Confusion at Susa No heir to the throne Five days' interregnum Provisional government Consultation of
the confederates Otanes in favor of a republic Otanes's republic Principles of representation Large
assemblies Nature of ancient republics Nature of a representative republic Megabyzus He opposes the
plan of Otanes Speech of Megabyzus He proposes an oligarchy Speech of Darius He advocates a
monarchy Four of the seven confederates concur with Darius Otanes withdraws Agreement made by the
rest Singular mode of deciding which should be the king The groom Oebases His method of making
Darius's horse neigh Probable truth or falsehood of this account Ancient statesmen Their character and
position The conspirators governed, in their decision, by superstitious feelings The conspirators do homage
to Darius The equestrian statue.
For several days after the assassination of the magi the city was filled with excitement, tumults, and
confusion. There was no heir, of the family of Cyrus, entitled to succeed to the vacant throne, for neither
Cambyses, nor Smerdis his brother, had left any sons. There was, indeed, a daughter of Smerdis, named
Parmys, and there were also still living two daughters of Cyrus. One was Atossa, whom we have already
mentioned as having been married to Cambyses, her brother, and as having been afterward taken by Smerdis
the magian as one of his wives. These princesses, though of royal lineage, seem neither of them to have been
disposed to assert any claims to the throne at such a crisis. The mass of the community were stupefied with
astonishment at the sudden revolution which had occurred. No movement was made toward determining the
succession. For five days nothing was done.
During this period, all the subordinate functions of government in the provinces, cities, and towns, and among
the various garrisons and encampments of the army, went on, of course, as usual, but the general
administration of the government had no head. The seven confederates had been regarded, for the time being,
as a sort of provisional government, the army and the country in general, so far as appears, looking to them for
the means of extrication from the political difficulties in which this sudden revolution had involved them, and
submitting, in the mean time, to their direction and control. Such a state of things, it was obvious, could not
long last; and after five days, when the commotion had somewhat subsided, they began to consider it
necessary to make some arrangements of a more permanent character, the power to make such arrangements
as they thought best resting with them alone. They accordingly met for consultation.
Herodotus the historian,[C] on whose narrative of these events we have mainly to rely for all the information
respecting them which is now to be attained, gives a very minute and dramatic account of the deliberations of

the conspirators on this occasion. The account is, in fact, too dramatic to be probably true.
[Footnote C: An account of Herodotus, and of the circumstances under which he wrote his history, which will
aid the reader very much in forming an opinion in respect to the kind and degree of confidence which it is
proper to place in his statements, will be found in the first chapter of our history of Cyrus the Great.]
Otanes, in this discussion, was in favor of establishing a republic. He did not think it safe or wise to intrust the
supreme power again to any single individual. It was proved, he said, by universal experience, that when any
one person was raised to such an elevation above his fellow-men, he became suspicious, jealous, insolent, and
cruel. He lost all regard for the welfare and happiness of others, and became supremely devoted to the
preservation of his own greatness and power by any means, however tyrannical, and to the accomplishment of
the purposes of his own despotic will. The best and most valuable citizens were as likely to become the
victims of his oppression as the worst. In fact, tyrants generally chose their favorites, he said, from among the
most abandoned men and women in their realms, such characters being the readiest instruments of their guilty
CHAPTER IV. 24
pleasures and their crimes. Otanes referred very particularly to the case of Cambyses as an example of the
extreme lengths to which the despotic insolence and cruelty of a tyrant could go. He reminded his colleagues
of the sufferings and terrors which they had endured while under his sway, and urged them very strongly not
to expose themselves to such terrible evils and dangers again. He proposed, therefore, that they should
establish a republic, under which the officers of government should be elected, and questions of public policy
be determined, in assemblies of the people.
It must be understood, however, by the reader, that a republic, as contemplated and intended by Otanes in this
speech, was entirely different from the mode of government which that word denotes at the present day. They
had little idea, in those times, of the principle of representation, by which the thousand separate and detached
communities of a great empire can choose delegates, who are to deliberate, speak, and act for them in the
assemblies where the great governmental decisions are ultimately made. By this principle of representation,
the people can really all share in the exercise of power. Without it they can not, for it is impossible that the
people of a great state can ever be brought together in one assembly; nor, even if it were practicable to bring
them thus together, would it be possible for such a concourse to deliberate or act. The action of any assembly
which goes beyond a very few hundred in numbers, is always, in fact, the action exclusively of the small knot
of leaders who call and manage it. Otanes, therefore, as well as all other advocates of republican government
in ancient times, meant that the supreme power should be exercised, not by the great mass of the people

included within the jurisdiction in question, but by such a portion of certain privileged classes as could be
brought together in the capital. It was such a sort of republic as would be formed in this country if the affairs
of the country at large, and the municipal and domestic institutions of all the states, were regulated and
controlled by laws enacted, and by governors appointed, at great municipal meetings held in the city of New
York.
This was, in fact, the nature of all the republics of ancient times. They were generally small, and the city in
whose free citizens the supreme power resided, constituted by far the most important portion of the body
politic. The Roman republic, however, became at one period very large. It overspread almost the whole of
Europe; but, widely extended as it was in territory, and comprising innumerable states and kingdoms within
its jurisdiction, the vast concentration of power by which the whole was governed, vested entirely and
exclusively in noisy and tumultuous assemblies convened in the Roman forum.
Even if the idea of a representative system of government, such as is adopted in modern times, and by means
of which the people of a great and extended empire can exercise, conveniently and efficiently, a general
sovereignty held in common by them all, had been understood in ancient times, it is very doubtful whether it
could, in those times, have been carried into effect, for want of certain facilities which are enjoyed in the
present age, and which seem essential for the safe and easy action of so vast and complicated a system as a
great representative government must necessarily be. The regular transaction of business at public meetings,
and the orderly and successful management of any extended system of elections, requires a great deal of
writing; and the general circulation of newspapers, or something exercising the great function which it is the
object of newspapers to fulfill, that of keeping the people at large in some degree informed in respect to the
progress of public affairs, seems essential to the successful working of a system of representative government
comprising any considerable extent of territory.
However this may be, whether a great representative system would or would not have been practicable in
ancient times if it had been tried, it is certain that it was never tried. In all ancient republics, the sovereignty
resided, essentially, in a privileged class of the people of the capital. The territories governed were provinces,
held in subjection as dependencies, and compelled to pay tribute; and this was the plan which Otanes meant to
advocate when recommending a republic, in the Persian council.
The name of the second speaker in this celebrated consultation was Megabyzus. He opposed the plan of
Otanes. He concurred fully, he said, in all that Otanes had advanced in respect to the evils of a monarchy, and
to the oppression and tyranny to which a people were exposed whose liberties and lives were subject to the

CHAPTER IV. 25